Li Pingping, a former marketing consultant in China, took pictures of the beheading that took place in her bathroom last week and posted them to Sina Weibo, China’s version of Twitter. The photos quickly went viral, and many people are questioning the woman’s mental stability and attacking her for what she did.

“Brutally dismembering a poor kitten in your bathroom, then posting the photos online?” wrote one user. “The cruelty is just beyond imagination.”

"What you did disqualifies you as a human being," wrote another user.

Initially, Li defended her actions, saying that she was angry that her family was recently torn apart by her father’s affair and that she took her anger out on the cat. Amidst heated backlash, Li continued her defense, telling people to “back off.” On Monday, however, Li wrote an open letter acknowledging that what she did was wrong and claiming that she was under the influence of alcohol at the time.

“I just hope that the wrong way of venting emotions can be avoided in the future," commented one user on the letter.

Experts say that many people take their anger out on animals because they are weaker, and do not realize that serious consequences can come from animal abuse.

"A good number of people think that as long as they don't attack human beings, everything else is fine, which leads to frequent animal abuse cases," said Sun Daiqiang, a psychology professor at Beijing Normal University, to Want China Times.

As for Li, it’s unclear whether or not she will face charges. She eventually deleted all of her social media posts linked to the beheading.